A self-describe "UFOlogist" brought the desiccated figures in front of the Mexican congress last September, claiming they had been recovered near Peru's ancient Nazca Lines and dated over 700 years old.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/6680998

Aliens have not been discovered in South America after all. The doll-like figures, photos of which went viral online last year, are just that – dolls, according to scientists.

The controversial artifacts were seized by Peruvian customs agents in October and intended for “a Mexican citizen,” the Associated Press reported.

Mexican journalist and self-described “UFOlogist” Jaime Maussan brought similar unidentified fraudulent objects in front of the Mexican congress last September, claiming that they had been recovered near Peru’s ancient Nazca Lines and dated over 700 years old.

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Experts with Peru’s prosecutor’s office analyzed the seized dolls, and forensic archaeologist Flavio Estrada presented the results of their findings at a press conference for the Peruvian Ministry of Culture on Friday.

“They are not extraterrestrials, they are not intraterrestrials, they are not a new species, they are not hybrids, they are none of those things that this group of pseudo-scientists who for six years have been presenting with these elements,” Estrada said.

The humanoid three-fingered dolls consisted of earth-bound animal and human bones assembled with modern synthetic glue, Estrada elaborated. It isn’t the first time Maussan has had an otherworldly corpse debunked — he made similar claims in 2017.

  • Buffalox@lemmy.worldEnglish
    51·
    10 months ago

    I doubt very many believed it anyway. But good that it’s now officially debunked.

      • Buffalox@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago

        Yes now the nutjobs probably believe it even more, because authorities debunking it, must mean it’s actually true. 😋

  • IHeartBadCode@kbin.social
    3·
    10 months ago

    The humanoid three-fingered dolls consisted of earth-bound animal and human bones assembled with modern synthetic glue, Estrada elaborated. It isn’t the first time Maussan has had an otherworldly corpse debunked — he made similar claims in 2017.

    There’s an old saying in Peru — I know it’s in Ecuador, probably in Peru — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.

    • Blankmann@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      10 months ago

      That blundering quote happened because Bush realized, after it was happening, that him saying “shame on me” would be a terrible sound bite to have chopped and replayed on TV.

  • HM05@lemmy.worldMEnglish
    68·
    10 months ago

    I think it’s important to note that these are not the ones that had previously been presented. These are from unknown origin and, besides appearance, don’t have any confirmed connection.

    I don’t take a stance on the presented mummies. If people are interested in researching any then more power to them. I’ll support any research that is made available for both the scientific community and public to review and decide themselves.

    Whether presented with claimed extraterrestrials or earthly, new species, don’t let hoaxes make you dismiss all bizarre new claims. If we let hoaxes muddy the waters then we would have given up on researching dinosaurs and extinct species decades ago.

    I’ll sit back and let science run its course. But, I’m not going to get invested in anything until enough of the scientific community takes interest and develops proof.

    • Warl0k3@lemmy.worldEnglish
      61·
      10 months ago

      I think a lot of the skepticism here is rather eloquently summarized by Sr. Estrada:

      “Our cultures of the past made Machu Picchu, our cultures of the past made the Nazca Lines, they didn’t need any alien help to do it.”

      Watch “ancient aliens” or a similar show (which depressingly are the root source of pretty much any UFO theories these days). It’s just a constant stream of “How did these brown people figure out how make simple geometric shapes?!? It must have been aliens” and conveniently ignoring that pretty much every ancient culture they talk about were technologically as advanced as Rome ever was. Hell, most of the Incan aquaduct system is both still in use and *massively predates the Inca showing up. And have you ever been to Nazca? There’s fuckall else to do there except think, and you’ve got the biggest blank canvas in the world to mess around with.

      Setting aside the “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence” issue with using dinosaurs or extinct species as an example, it’s hard to afford scientific skepticism (and therefore hypothetical credibility) to these claims because, while they are much less overt than the stereotypical race science bullshit, time and time again they’re shown to stem from some incredibly racist foundational assumptions.

      • HM05@lemmy.worldMEnglish
        23·
        10 months ago

        I understand the issue with “ancient aliens” being insulting to cultures that made astounding accomplishments, but you’re bringing in an irrelevant argument. This is an issue of if they were real living entities, not their impact on a culture. There is barely research on the authenticity, let alone the cultural impact of them. Also keep in mind that the initial research presented at the Mexican hearing was from a Peruvian university. You’re using an argument of a different race and culture judging another, when it’s Peruvians researching objects found in Peru. That doesn’t necessarily rule out cultural bias, but it seems like an unnecessary leap to bring race into the argument of whether something is biological entity.

      • HM05@lemmy.worldMEnglish
        31·
        10 months ago

        It is weird. I try not to get too wrapped up in it, but it is frustrating. Especially when skeptics come in with more investment in the subject than a lot of believers and are hell bent on taking any opportunity to discredit the subject as a whole.